Systems Thinking and Social Capabilities:
Toward a More Inclusive View of Engineering
Competencies for High Performance in
Sociotechnical Enterprises
Dr. Wiljeana Glover, MIT LAI
Dr. Donna Rhodes, MIT SEAri
Dr. Heidi Davidz, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
LAI Knowledge Exchange Event
April 10, 2012
Welcome and Introductions
Name
Organization
Interest in the Topic
2
Overview
Motivation for STS View of Team, Org, and Enterprise
Competencies
Presentations
Workshop/Brainstorming/Discussion
Next Steps
Ind.
Team
Systems
Thinking
Org.
Social
Capabilities
Technical
Attitudinal
Behavioral
Ent.
Level of Observation
SOCIOtechnical
Systems Perspective
Performance
Topics for Knowledge Exchange Event:
April 2012
 Defining and discussing future empirical studies and
practitioner insights on collaborative systems thinking
 Defining the set of social capabilities for consideration: e.g.,
external perspective, internal processes, management
support, relational coordination
– When examining engineering work, is there a factor that we are
perhaps missing that should be considered?
 Impact of level of analysis: individual  team 
organization/system  interorganizational/enterprise/SoS
 Impact of heterogeneity/cross-functionality of the work: e.g.,
systems engineering teams v. program management v.
SE/Project Management interactions
 What is the impact of collaborative systems thinking and
social skills on performance (e.g., improved efficiency,
quality, radical innovation)?
Motivation
Several Studies, but Piecemeal approach
to area
Great Interest in the community
No research agenda at a community level
Ongoing practitioner community activities
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From Individual to Team & Organizational
Competencies, and Beyond…
Hahn, 1/23/2012: “But, without
organizational competency in SE it
will be difficult for competent
individual SEs to succeed in their
organizational context”
Figure from: Pyster, A., D. Olwell, J. Anthony, S. Enck, N. Hutchison, and A. Squires. 2011 (eds). A Guide to the Systems
Engineering Body of Knowledge (SEBoK). Hoboken, NJ: Stevens Institute of Technology. Available at: www.sebokwiki.org.
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Systems Thinking and Social Capabilities
Social Capabilities
 The social and
motivational traits and
behaviors that influence
performance
 Influenced by
Sociotechnical Systems
Theory (Emery & Trist,
 Understanding, architecting
1960)
and developing
 Includes Interpersonal
organizational structures,
Skills, psychosocial traits,
policy system, processes,
etc.
knowledgebase, and
Systems Thinking
 Enterprise perspective,
acknowledging
interconnectedness of
product system with
enterprise system that
develops and sustains it
– e.g., Trust, Confidence,
enabling technologies as
Empathy, Self-control,
part of the overall
Psychological Safety
engineering system
It is not enough to understand systems thinking in individuals but also how it
emerges in groups and enterprises (Lamb, 2008)
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Agenda
9:00 – 9:15am
9:15 – 9:30am
9:30 – 9:55am
9:55 – 10:20am
10:20 – 10:45am
10:45 – 11:00am
11:00 – 11:25am
11:25 – 11:50am
11:50 – 12:15pm
12:15 – 1:00pm
Welcome and Introductions of Participants
Review of Agenda and Kickoff Presentation:
Systems Thinking and Social Competencies, Dr. Wiljeana Glover, MIT LAI
Round-robin of Presentations (20 minutes + 5 minute discussion for each)
Dr. Donna Rhodes, MIT LAI & Systems Engineering Advancement Research Initiative

The Big Picture: Historical View of Systems Thinking and Social Competencies in
Research and in Practice
Dr. Josef Oehmen, MIT LAI

Motivating Example: Socially-related Lean Enablers for Systems Engineering and
Program Management (INCOSE and PMI Study)
Dr. Heidi Davidz, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne

Systems Engineering Competency: Industrial Perspectives
Break
Dr. Danielle Wood, Alumna, MIT Engineering Systems Division

Motivating Example: Systems Thinking Development and Capability Building in
Established and Emerging Space Programs
Mr. George Rebovich, The MITRE Corporation

Motivating Example: Social and Technical Success Patterns in Systems Engineering
of IT Intensive Systems (MITRE Study)
Dr. Wiljeana Glover

From Teams to Organizations and Inter-organizations: Measures of Systems
Thinking and Social Competencies from Production and Healthcare
Lunch break. Defining groups and facilitators.
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Agenda
1:00 – 2:00pm
Workshops: Identifying Future Studies and Practical Implementations
for Team/Org/Enterprise Competencies
3 groups
45 minutes collection
15 minutes documentation
2:00 – 2:15pm
Break
2:15 – 2:55pm
Report-out of group findings
5 minutes report-out per group
5 minutes discussion per group
2:30 – 3:00pm
Planning session/Next Steps
 Plans for Systems Engineering Research Agenda Paper
 Executing key studies in research agenda
o Approach
o Potential Participating Companies and Professional Groups
o Timeline
3:15pm – 3:45pm Feedback and Wrap Up; Adjourn
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Outcomes
 Linking systems thinking and social competencies
 Preliminary documentation of current best practices in
systems thinking and social competencies within team-,
organization-, and enterprise-level competency models
 Develop plans and timeline for publication of this
preliminary documentation and research agenda in
Systems Engineering
 Develop time and determine potential participants for
additional studies of team-, organization-, and
enterprise-level competency model use, their inclusion of
systems thinking and social competencies, and impact
on performance
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